


Wide Office Spaces

by TremendousTragedyCycle



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Allison, Alive Laura Hale, Alive Vernon Boyd & Erica Reyes, Asexual Derek, Awkward Derek, BAMF Stiles, CEO Derek, Emotionally Constipated Derek, F/M, Grey's Anatomy References, HR!stiles, M/M, Multi, Sassy Erica, Slurs, but he likes to kiss, not straight stiles, sterek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-08-17 09:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8139563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TremendousTragedyCycle/pseuds/TremendousTragedyCycle
Summary: Derek, Awkward. Emotionally constipated.  Always kind of angry. CEO of 'Hale and Sons'. Stiles. understanding. Efficient. Takes no shit. Head of Human Resources for 'Hale and Sons'  Derek's trying to navigate his unexpected life. Throwing Stiles into that might just help.(will try and updated monthly)





	1. Prologue

Wide Office Space

Prologue 

Derek had lived most of his life by expectation. His parents expected good behavior out of him since he was four. He was expected to get good grades in every class whether he needed those credits or not. He was expected to go to one of the top business schools in the country and maintain those good grades. Most importantly he was expected to take over his family’s company as soon as he graduated. Lastly, he was expected to find nice women settle down and have kids sometime before he was thirty.

Like all lives, there were unexpected things that tend to ruin the best of plans. 

Good grades were easy to maintain with him. He spent most of his school life in his dorm or his room at home. He did go to the best school in the country for business but, he also fell in love with history. So he majored in business and minored in history. Much to the shock (and sometimes hate) of his family. 

Derek had agreed to take over the company. That was the only thing he really could do. His history minor wouldn’t get him anywhere even though he loved history so much more than business. He agreed to take over the company.

Derek thought he would find someone in university a nice girl to settle down have the grandchildren that his parents wanted but, one night of talking with the short teachers assistant named Henry and Derek knew that a wife and grandchildren were not in the cards for Derek.

By far the worst unexpected thing was a day that Derek didn’t want to think about ever again and tried very hard not to. 

It had been Derek’s graduation. He had been getting so many phone calls from relatives saying how proud they were of him and how they couldn’t wait to see him when he went up on stage. 

His mom, a very kind yet powerful woman, Talia Hale had invited all of his extended family to come see him graduate which they all graciously accepted. 

When the day actually came Derek was actually very excited. They hadn’t had a family gather with the whole family in years and Derek honestly missed it. He was practically buzzing when they were lining up to go take their seats. When the classic graduation music began and everyone was walking out his eyes immediately snapped to the audience looking for his large family. 

He scanned but after three attempts he could find them until he saw the large gap in the audience where his family was supposed to be. Derek’s stomach dropped. He knew something was wrong but it just didn’t know what.

He wanted to call them or text them but, didn’t have to. Before the graduation had even begun the authorities had stepped into the stadium and escorted out of the building. 

Mice, they said. Mice had chewed some wires and started a fire. They thought by the time they knew there was a fire it was too late. The manor had collapsed on his family and the only one to survive was his older sister Laura.

Derek and Laura had been the center of attention for a while after that. Being prodded and picked for their scoop on the tragedy wore on them. soon after that they had decided to leave their small town of beacon hills California and traveled to New York City. 

It had taken them both awhile to want to even leave their rather large apartment (Laura had wanted a larger living space because She was used to it. Derek didn’t want a big apartment it made it feel rather lonely and empty.) Laura had decided it was time to at least keep going with her life. She never forced Derek into leaving…intentionally. There had been a few dates coming through every so often and truth be told Derek was getting a little sick and tired of being caught with his pants down. (metaphorically and sometimes literally.) Derek had decided to get his own place soon after that. Laura wasn’t surprised.

Derek had found what he wanted (a small apartment on the nicer side of Manhattan.) moved in quickly (He didn’t have a lot of possessions after the fire) and was ready to wallow in the tragedy that struck him.

He lived like this for another month. Laura would swing by at least two times every week. Sometimes with a new person sometimes without. They would eat dinner on those days. She would pick it up almost every time she went over for dinner and every time she would ask the same questions. 

“You go anywhere recently?” 

“No.” He would reply.

“Do you plan on going anywhere soon?” She would ask. 

“probably not.” He would finish. 

Laura knew not to press any further. She knew it would only upset him.

Derek had entered a routine with this.

Wake up. Eat. Read. Eat. Read Eat. Sleep. Two days were left for Laura even though he knew she wouldn’t stick around for long. He liked his routine. It kept him from thinking about everything. He didn’t want to think about everything. Just him and his books. 

Laura had arrived a sunny September afternoon. She had let herself in with the spare key Derek had given her. She had come alone today because her girlfriend had broken up with her the night before. She had grabbed Derek’s mail (a couple bills, a porn magazine that their uncle had subscribed to in Derek’s name as a joke. And a large manila envelope.) and set it down on the island in the kitchen.

“Derek?” She called. He wasn’t in the living room but she could hear the shower running, so he was defiantly here. She wandered for a second. There wasn’t much to do in his apartment. She walked over to the rather large bookshelf already filled with literature. For a second she was actually proud of him for at least leaving the house to buy more books. 

She then looked to her right and saw the recycling was piled rather high with amazon boxes. 

She scowled. Walking back to the island she idly flipped through the mail again. She pushed the bills to the side for Derek later and immediately threw out the porn magazine without even looking at the cover. 

Still on the island was the large manila envelope. She flipped it over. It was very plain, Except for the large logo of Derek’s old university. Against her better judgment, she started to pull the flap open. She pulled the only contents of the envelope out. A black Folder with Derek’s named printed on it in golden ink on the bottom right corner.

Laura knew what it was. She Flipped it open revealing Derek’s diploma. As she read over the diploma Derek Stepped out of the bathroom a towel around his waist.

“Oh. Laura I didn’t hear you come in.” Derek said. 

Laura looked up from his diploma. He had a business degree. She had looked at her little brother. Really looked at him since the fire. He had let himself go since then.

His scruff had turned unruly and disastrous without being maintained. It was much like a beard, then scruff at this point. He had been working out since he was fifteen. The work was now wasted as he lost noticeable muscle mass instead for a slightly rounder stomach from all the take-out and lack of exercise. He hadn’t had a haircut in so long. The spark that Derek had in his eyes, The spark of innocence, the spark that Laura had loved to see when he smiled and the edges of his eyes crinkled, Was no gone and she wasn’t very hopeful it would come back.

“Laura is everything alright?” 

It had then occurred to her that she had been staring at her practically naked brother, but all she could do was answer his question. 

“No…” 

Derek’s face dropped. “Are you okay?” Derek asked immediately. Laura set the diploma so that it stood up on the spine of its folder showing plainly what it was. Derek looked at it but ignored it in favor of looking back at Laura waiting for her answer.

“I’m fine Derek. It’s you that’s not okay.” Laura started to unbutton her blue jean jacket. Derek’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. “what are you talking about of course I’m okay.” 

Laura pulled off her jacket, putting it on the back of the couch in the middle of the room. “Derek I’m not saying you have to forget about them…” 

Derek’s eye narrowed at her. “Don’t start with this Laura.” He warned his voice lowering with unshed tears and emotions.

“You need to start getting back into the world.” She continued. “I don’t need to get back into the world! I am perfectly happy where I am now!” Derek retorted sadness replaced with anger.

“Here Derek? Really? It doesn’t look that way!” Laura made a sweeping motion around the apartment. It was a disaster. Derek had never really Cleaned up after himself before or after the fire, but this was just ridiculous. Cups and plates hadn’t made it to the sink and instead found homes on the ground or any open space on counter or tables. Clothes laid in haphazard piles around the room. Multiple pairs of old socks had accumulated around the couch from where Derek would sit. 

Derek looked down at his feet, unable to look his concerned older sister in the face. Laura walked closer to him. She brought her arms up to rub up and down his arms “Derek I’m always gonna be here for you. I’m always gonna love you, but you have to start taking care of yourself. Clean up your home, go take over Hale and sons and please start running again. Okay?” 

Derek’s shoulders shook a little bit as he tried to hold in sobs. He looked at his sister. Really looked at his sister for the first time after the fire. She was alright. She was okay. 

If she was, He could be too. 

So, he started off slow.

He cleaned his apartment. He picked up his dirty laundry. He had to run a few loads of laundry before it was all done. In-between loads he washed and dried his dishes. With how long they were sitting there Derek had briefly thought about throwing them all out and buying completely new sets. He had even taken out his recycling and trash on the correct date. It was a good start.

Running was horrible. Derek hated running. Which was weird on its own because he used to love it. That was then. This was now. Derek had to face the fact that he was completely out of shape. He hadn’t been this out of shape since he was fourteen. But he did it started slowly and quickly got back into it. Laura ran with him at the beginning but later on had to stop because Derek would run for longer she could keep up.

Finally, Derek had taken his parents will with Laura to a lawyer and got it straightened out. Laura had received any of the family heirlooms that weren’t destroyed in the fire along with now being the head of the Hale Clan because she was now technically the oldest. Derek Received the claim over the company as he had the degree in business (Laura broke her parent’s expectations when she went to culinary school.) and any books from the library that hadn’t been destroyed. Both siblings received half of the money that all the family had together and they both owned the land that the house used to stand on.

The week after that Derek was starting as the CEO of Hale and Sons. Laura had driven him to his first day in her new Mazda she affectionately referred to as Ruby. When they pulled up to the front of the building in their parking lot Laura turned to him. “Alright, Bear! You ready?” She asked. Derek was dressed in a gray business suit black tie and he even trimmed his hair and beard back down to scruff. Derek was nervously playing with his sleeve, but his heart calmed a little at the old nickname. “I think so how do I looked?” He asked.

Laura looked him over quickly. “You look…Like mom…” there was a brief pause as they both tried not to cry, but all the same, they smiled at each other. Laura reached over and pulled Derek’s arm from his sleeve. “walk in there and show them whose boss!” before she let him go she quickly fastened a button onto his suit jacket. The Hale Insignia. Their mother wore it every day. Derek looked back up to his smiling sister and they hugged before Derek finally got out the car and walked into the building. 

The year flew by rather quickly in a blur of black and white. Paperwork and computer screen. Wide offices spaces.

This is how he ended up here in this office being the principle to children he thought were adults.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Derek didn’t know how he got to this point. He thought he was done being around children. Apparently not because he had four of his employees sitting in his office bickering. He also had no reason why they were sent to him. They were just squabbling about something random. When he asked their supervisor what the issue was, he just gave a shrug and left.

Derek wasn’t very happy with the guy, but he didn’t know his name to do anything about it. He didn’t know a lot of people even a year after he started working here.

Derek sighed brushing his hand through his already mussed Dark hair. They had all been sitting there for fifteen minutes and Derek had tried to get them to stop shouting for ten of those minutes. It didn’t work so Derek sat there hoping they would all run out of steam.

They didn’t so Derek stood up and walked out of his office closing the door to try to block out some of the noise. His secretary, Erica, was sitting at her desk headphones in her ears. Her blond hair was put up into a clean ponytail and her pantsuit screamed professionalism but the loud music Derek could hear contrasted when he could make out loud screaming. He simply walked past her barely giving a wave as he walked down the hall pressing the call button on the elevator.

Other employees had walked past Derek before the Elevator had made it to the twenty-seventh floor. They all walked past giving a short hello or ‘good afternoon Mr. Hale’ as they did so. Derek gave a nod or a grunt in return as he wasn’t very good at small talk and he didn’t really know or remember any of the people he greeted in this hallway.

When the elevator Finally reached his floor it already had a few people in it. Derek stepped giving no greeting as the door closed behind him. He chose his desired floor (the thirtieth) and waited patiently yet awkwardly as the elevator rose. He really didn’t want to talk to these people.

“how is your day going Mr. Hale?” A young woman with brown hair around her shoulder asked.

The gods were cruel to Derek.

Derek looked at her trying to think of something to say. He stammered instead. Incoherent words leaving his mouth without any hint of stopping. When the elevator dinged and its doors opened Derek couldn’t have been happier. Simply walking off not saying goodbye to the women.

He was horrified when he looked back and saw she was following him.

He quickly looked forward again daring not to look back at her. Was she following him? Would he need to call security? This is why he doesn’t like being out of his office. He always attracted attention to himself in high school in college after the fire. Even now he did. He hated every last second of it and would trade in everything (minus Laura) for him to be invisible.

He was just short of running down the hall when he saw through the glass of the office she turned into a doorway and disappearing from his sight as he continued to walk. He was very relieved at this turn of events.

Derek came to the door with a sign that said “Human Resources” hanging on the wall in golden lettering. He didn’t bother knocking (as he rarely did) as he walked in. He was the head of the company after all. The people in Human resources didn’t look up from their computers or papers. Apparently, they were used to loud entrances and weren’t bothered by the fact that Derek didn’t look too happy at the moment.

He walked up to the closest desk and looked down at the nameplate on the desk “Boyd” It said in the same golden lettering. The desk was mostly organized save for a few papers that were being used and a half-empty coffee cup. The man sitting behind the desk was still looking at his computer. He was African- American, His head was shaved and he was wearing a nice tailored blue suit that showed off his muscle well. The only reason that he looked up from his computer was Derek clearing his throat that didn’t sound particularly friendly. Boyd didn’t seem scared though which was a first for Derek.

He was used to people being scared if he made anything more than a neutral face. Boyd wasn’t that he was simply bored looking. Not annoyed not angry just...bored.

“Can I help you with something Mr. Hale,” Boyd said quick and to the point. Derek liked that. No small talk to worry about.

“Yes. I have four bickering employees’ in my office and I have no idea why they weren’t sent down here!” Derek tried his best to sound firm with his employee but Boyd simply stared at him.

“Why didn’t you just send them up here?” Boyd replied. Derek was taken aback no employee had ever spoken back to him before. Derek didn’t like it but put it off as the lesser of two evils in this present time.

“I tried they just keep arguing!” Derek replied hotly. Boyd blinked.

“You’re the boss though” Boyd replied. Derek growled under his breath.

“Yes I know that, but they won’t listen! They’re too busy arguing!” Boyd shrugged. “Sounds like you need Mom then” He replied no emotion really invading his tone. Derek looked at him. This had to be some kind of joke right?

Boyd simply turned back to his computer not giving Derek any more details. Derek Growled and went directly to the back door of the room. Drilled onto said door was a sign that said “Head of Human Resources” he walked in as he does normally and walked directly up to the desk at the back of the room.

He had definitely gotten the attention of the man at the desk as he was now being looked at by a pair of eyes a golden amber in color. Derek was speechless for a second. It was hard thinking of words. Instead, his eyes wandered over the face of this possible Greek god.

His face was pale like he hadn’t been in sun for his whole life. There was a small mole to the left of his lip that Derek couldn’t not find adorable. His hair was such a harsh dark shade of brown that it made all the features pop out even more.

“Can I help you, Mr. Hale?” The man said. Derek’s attention was immediately drawn to his lips which were pale yet so nice and inviting.

Derek was trying very hard not to stammer.

“Y-Yes I have four arguing people in my office that should have been sent here!” Derek shouted. The man wasn’t taken back with it tough.

“Okay. Why didn’t you send them up here then?” He replied. Derek tried not to scream. Instead, he clenched his fist. “I tried already! They didn’t listen!” Derek was slightly proud that he didn’t scream right in the guy's face. This already wasn’t a very good first impression.

The guy looked perplexed. “You’re the-“Derek didn’t let him finish.

“I KNOW I’M THE BOSS! What I need though is someone to come down and get them out of my office! Not later, Now! Get this “Mom” to come down She can deal with it in whatever happy go lucky Bullshit way she can, But I actually have to get some work done. Contrary to popular belief, the heads of major medical companies actually do their jobs! Make it happen!” Derek Screamed.

At some point in his ranting, the guys faced changed from actually pleasant to a plastered on fake smile, that someone would do if they didn’t like being in the presence. “Right away Mr. Hale. I’ll say her right down when she’s done writing her get well cards to the sick employees.” His smile was all teeth but Derek wasn’t really aware of how fake it was just giving a nod “See that it happens Mr…” he glanced down at the name tag “…Stilinski.” And walking out of the office.

He made his way back to the elevator. He hadn’t felt exactly good about screaming at someone, but it got the job done. He called the elevator and traveled back to his office no one talked to him this time. Probably because he still had an angry demeanor on.

He walked back into the waiting area of his office. Erica looked up from her computer right away. “Mr. Hale they are still arguing.” She said. She looked pissed off just as much as Derek was.

“I know I got someone from HR to come down and take them off our hands. Someone that’s Referred to as Mom.” Derek replied walking to his office doors. Erica Perked up at the mention of Mom” Oh my god Really? Mom’s the best! He- “Derek cut her off “Yes she will be down in a minute. Let her directly into my office.”

“Yes, Sir.” She said turning in her seat.

Derek opened his office doors to the still angry employees all of them no longer sitting but seem to have gotten louder then Derek had thought possible. He walked around them sitting back in his large chair and waited for “Mom” to show up.

Derek had just started wondering if their voices would ever give out when his office door was pushed open quickly.

Finally, Derek thought but who Derek saw at the door was not who he was expecting. He expected a woman, in her early fifties probably gray hair and probably very happy go lucky.

No, what he got was Mr. Stilinski.

Derek was rather confused about why he was here, but all four argue men closed their mouths almost immediately upon seeing the newcomer. Stilinski looked beyond pissed as he walked in. He strode gracefully to the middle of the room. 

“What the hell happened here?” he asked crisp clear and precise. No one answered in fear of him. Derek had never seen this kind of respect and fear come from someone since his mother when she dealt with large work affairs.

“I don’t think you heard me. What happened here? “He asked again. Once again no one answer. All of them keeping quiet. “Isaac,” Stilinski said. The man furthest to the left of where Stilinski was standing squeaked and stammered out a “Y-yes Stiles?” He couldn’t look Stiles in the eye at all looking down at the floor as he spoke to him. His curly dark hair falling in his face, hiding his blue-grey eyes. “Please tell me what happened?”

“Jackson said that the only reason I’m dating Allison was because she has money and that she’s only dating me because I’m a lost dog. So then I said that the only reason Jackson keep’s dating Lydia was because he couldn’t have Danny.” Isaac explained quickly. Stiles nodded then looked to another one on the couch “Jackson is this true?” Stiles asked who Derek guessed was Jackson. His hair was sandy brown the sides and back of his head were shaved short the top was styled in the front with gel. His eyes a deeper shade of blue than Isaac’s. Jackson was trying to keep eye contact and stand his ground. It wasn’t working out for him.

“Yes...” Jackson replied stiffly. Stiles nodded once again turning to the last two. “Why are you two here then? I thought Danny, you would at least be the sensible one to this.” Danny, a darker skinned man (Hawaiian) with his hair cut pretty short to his head his brown eyes held a hint of guilt as he straightened up when stiles were talking to him. “I…thought I was until Isaac said something about Ethan…” Stiles turned back to Isaac. “oh yes? What was it?” Stiles smiled. This time Derek caught that it was fake.

Isaac tried to stay silent. “Oh don’t worry Isaac we’ll wait until you’re ready,” Stiles said same fake smile still on his face. Isaac swallowed before speaking. “I said that Jackson couldn’t have Danny because he wasn’t actually a …” Isaac paused. Stiles gestured for him to continue. Isaac sighed in defeat. “I said he wasn’t a full…a faggot like Ethan.” Isaac finished his voice going very quiet at the end. Stiles' face went from fake smile to pure rage in no time at all. He seemed to be able to do that quite well.

Stiles was silent for a second. He took a deep breath before speaking. “Is there anything else you want to tell me? Any of you?” All of them shook their head no. “Oh good then.” Stile walked over to Derek’s desk for a second. “Mr. Hale do you have any ties to this matter with these children?” Stiles asked kindly. Derek shook his head surprised that Stiles had even thought to ask him. Stiles didn’t say anything else.

He spun around quickly making all four of the “children” on the couch sit up straighter. “Are you kidding me? No honestly are you kidding me? You waste not work time or Mr. Hale’s time but you waste my time! I run All of the personal and office affairs in this building people and I have to take time out of my day to come and deal you guys! You are adults! You shouldn’t be acting like sixteen-year-old high school students! So here’s how it’s going to work! During office hours Isaac and Jackson, you two will not speak to each other! Whatever “beef” you have with each will stop when you enter this building! When you leave to beat the crap out of each other I don’t care, but during work hours you will be adults and won’t talk to each other if you don’t have to. Ethan and Danny, you can still talk to them but if there is any fight I will make sure you two will be separated by at least ten floors. If anything does happen again you will not come to this man to solve your problem! If you are brought to this man you still come to me! Isaac if you use any kind of bigotry words again after work I will personally come find you and I will kick your ass! I promise you that! Do you understand?!” Stiles was breathing heavily waiting for the confirmation.

All of them nodded quickly not wanting to have more of Stiles wrath. “Good! you have three hours left until the day is done. Go back to work.” Derek was very impressed by stiles skills with the employees. Honestly, Derek felt smug that he had an employee that could strike fear into the hearts of people like that and he didn’t have to worry about getting that kind of wrath thrown at him.

“Yes, Mom!” All four of them said in unison getting up and walking out of Derek’s office fast.

Derek’s stomach dropped at the mention of the name.

“Y-You’re Mom?”

Stiles was at Derek’s door. He turned around with a very smug smile. He shrugged.

“Good afternoon Mr. Hale.” Stiles walked out of the office closing the door behind him with Derek Feeling like he had made the biggest mistake in the world.

Derek got up running to his door and threw it open in a flustered flurry. Stiles was already walking into the elevator and was gone.

He turned quickly to Erica who was looking at him in confusion.

“What’s up boss?” she asked eying him carefully.

“that was Mom?!” He all but shouted at her. Erica nodded. “Yea. You didn’t know that?”

“No! I didn’t! Why didn’t you warn me?” Derek demanded.

“What was there to warn you about?” Erica asked taking a sip from her water bottle.

“That he was a man! I just made a fool of myself because I thought mom was a she!” Derek Growled

“That’s what you get for assuming gender,” Erica said turning back to her desk once more. She was lucky that she was a good worker.

Derek Groaned and walked back into his office. He had just made a fool of himself in front of the most attractive person he had ever seen.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! sorry about the long wait i started college and have been kind of swamped on my work load. I'm gonna see if i can make a twitter or tumblr were i can keep you all updated so i'll let you all know! hope you enjoy this chapter! and until next time! Good bye!

Chapter 2

September had come and gone for Derek quickly. 

It was just reaching the end of it when he had his little run in with stiles Stilinski. Embarrassing himself more then he would like to admit. Since then he hadn’t seen the brown haired amber eyed enigma anywhere and they worked in the same building. 

Derek had spent the better part of October wracking his brain for ways to see him. The first few days were annoying as he wasn’t very good at controlling his emotions. He would often get angry if things weren’t done his way or if it wasn’t done on time. He probably would have had everyone quit if Erica didn’t Straighten everything out.

Erica had quickly become a kind of solace for him in his predicament. He hadn’t told her anything about Stiles specifically but she knew something was up with Derek. Eventually, she just asked him about everything.

“So what’s your problem been recently?” Erica was bold like that. She wasn’t afraid to say anything. Derek couldn’t tell if that was brave or stupid. 

Derek Sighed. “What makes you think I have a problem?” Erica just looked at him. A look that stated that she wasn’t taking any of his bullshit at the moment. “In the last twenty minutes you screamed at two people from file maintenance and you made our very nice mail dude cry.” Derek ran his hand through his hair. “He deserved it!” Derek claimed. “You said he didn’t organize your mail properly,” Erica argued Derek shrugged. “He didn’t. I don’t see what the big deal is here.” Erica groaned loudly. “Derek, I have worked with you for a year now and I can confidently say you don’t care if your Mail is organized!” 

“I don’t see why this matters Erica!” Derek moaned irritated. Erica held in a scream. “You have been a jerk since September! No one wants to get near you right now because you’ll just yell at them for something minuscule! So why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you and then I can help so we don’t lose employees and HR isn’t on our asses!” At the mention of HR Derek perked up a bit. “Oh my god!” Erica yelled. Derek instantly started blushing. “What are you yelling about.” Derek turned away trying to hide his darkening face Even though he was pretty sure that Erica knew what his problem was. 

“You like Stiles!” Erica said a cocky smile jumping to her face as she pointed with her index finger. Derek continued to blush now with an embarrassed look on his face but he was trying to make it look angry or confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Derek stated. “Stiles Stilinski! Head of HR! The guy who wears red converse to meetings. You totally dig him?” Erica rebuffed Derek scoffed moving from his chair over to the mini fridge in the corner of his office. “people still use ‘dig’ like that. Apparently, people like to butcher the English language.”

“Do not change the subject, Derek,” Erica said turning her body to face him. “I hope you remember that I’m still your boss.” Derek scolded. In the same breath, Erica rebutted with “Do not change the subject Mr. Hale, Sir.” Derek Growled as he pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and slammed the door. The wall shook slightly from the impact. “Something I don’t get is why you aren’t doing your job!” Derek chided. “Something I don’t get is why you can’t just tell me you like Stiles!” Erica fired back. Derek had decided at this point that she was stupid, not brave. “Why. Do. You. Care?” Derek said through clenched teeth. “You are scaring people! Seriously if you just told me if I’m right then I can help you!” Erica expressed. “how would you help me?” Derek asked disbelief clear on his face. Erica rolled her eyes in reply. “Well, I could help you not get sued. That’s a start!” she stated. Derek sighed defeated. 

“Fine. I may like Stiles a little bit.” Derek confessed. “Good, now an easy solution. Go talk to him!” and without waiting for a reply she walked out of his office and slammed the door. “wait what do you mean?!” there was no reply to his question.

 

After that, it went a little smoother. Derek would yell at people and Erica would kindly explain that Derek was just going through some relationship troubles. The employees would mostly understand save for a few people but they didn’t say anything.

Derek stayed in his office most days doing his work and thinking about Stiles. He would try thinking of ways to get near him. He had thought about having a companywide party, but both accounting and Erica both said no because they wouldn’t have a company by the end of it. 

So Derek switched to skulking around the company building. He came in early every day and would get all his work done prior to everyone getting in and when they did he would move floor to floor. What he was doing he didn’t really know but he was looking for ways to get close to stiles. 

Eventually, Erica was forced to come down and play clean up because people were very worried about why the CEO of the company was looking around their workspace. Erica scolded Derek when they were back in his office much to Derek’s dismay.

Most of October went by with no sighting of stiles at all. Derek was worried that stiles didn’t even work there anymore. Erica calmly told Derek that Stiles did still work there but didn’t move around the build much of late because he was busy with yearly employee review. 

“That’s completely stupid!” Derek exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air. “Yea! It’s like it’s his job or something!” Erica replied. Derek didn’t like her response but simply rolled his eyes.

Autumn had really begun to set in in New York. The leaves on trees had changed color and started to fall. The familiar smells started to roam the streets and doorways of buildings. 

Pumpkin spice had come back into coffee shops.

Derek wasn’t the biggest fan. He never really was. Laura had been a lover of it since she started drinking coffee. Derek had never really escaped the smell and grew sick of it after a few weeks. 

That hadn’t really changed with Laura. The last few visit’s from her she had shown up with a cup of it from the Starbucks on the end of his street. He thought he could get away from it at work but was quickly proven wrong when he walked into the building and that’s all he could smell.

The front foyer, the elevator, and even his office smelled of it. “Honestly Erica you to?” Derek had commented one morning. Erica looked perplexed asking “What do you mean?” Brows furrowed taking a sip from her cup. “With the pumpkin spice. Seriously how can you guys drink that every day?” He asked. Erica giggled. “I normally drink my coffee black but Stiles bought my boyfriend one and he didn’t like it. I don’t mind it, though.” She raised her cup giving a toasting gesture as Derek’s face went blank for a second. 

“Who’s your boyfriend? How does he know Stiles?” Derek demanded. Erica rolled her eyes. “Easy there tiger. My boyfriend work’s with Stiles in HR. Vernon Boyd.” She answered picking up her cup again. Derek kind of paled. “Boyd? Like shaved head? African American? That guy?” Derek asked. Erica gave an affirming sound around the mouth of her cup. Derek groaned walking into his office and shutting his door with a nearly soundless click.

The last couple days had flown by for everyone it seemed. The office was buzzing with Halloween cheer. Decorations in normal Halloween colors were hung up and showing how fun the company could be. Derek had learned last year that on Halloween if it was on a work day people were allowed to dress up in costumes if they didn’t have any meetings that day. His mom had implemented that rule when she was still alive. She had always loved Halloween and wanted everyone to have a good time when it rolled around. Derek didn’t want to change it in her memory.

 

Halloween was on a Friday this year. people had been asking to make it a half day which Derek had agreed to. (People probably wouldn’t be that productive anyway.) Derek hadn’t decided to dress up no matter how much Laura and Erica had begged but he agreed he would go casual for work that day. Jeans and a tasteful red sweater that Laura had agreed upon. 

He walked into the building that morning and was surprised about how many people had actually dressed up. Most of the people were dressed up in costumes decked to the nine. Face paints, hats, fake blood and he had even seen someone with an inflatable horse that fit around his waist. Derek felt a little underdressed. 

He got to his floor. Erica was dressed in scrubs and a white doctor's coat stethoscope around her neck and her hair were let down in loose curls. She had a name tag clipped on the top of her scrubs that read ‘Dr. Altman’. Derek looked at her with a perplexed expression. “I’m going to guess doctor?” Derek joked. Erica laughed a little at that. “Yes, a doctor from Greys Anatomy actually. My favorite show.” Derek shrugged. “I’ve never seen it,” Derek answered even though it wasn’t asked. “What have you seen Derek?” Erica shot back. He shrugged “I’ve seen the wizard of Oz.” Erica smirked. “That is a classic!” 

Derek finished his paperwork pretty quickly. He had asked Erica if there was anything new that came in but she shook her head. “It’s Halloween. no one really wants to send anything out until it’s over.” She reasoned. So Derek wandered people wished him a happy Halloween and he wasn’t as socially inept enough to wish them one back. People had handed him food and candy. Anything unwrapped he ate pretty quickly and wrapped candy he stuffed into his pocket. 

He had just finished probably one of the best brownies he had ever had in his life made by a very nice man named Ian. He started to walk to the elevators to move to the next floor (He was rather enjoying the food.) when he heard two people arguing. He rounded the corners of the cubicles and came across two rather familiar faces.

It was Isaac and Jackson from the conflict last month. 

They hadn’t noticed he was there yet so he just observed. They were bickering back and forth. Derek could tell they were trying to keep it hushed but it wasn’t exactly working. Especially when Jackson said something crude toward Isaac and picked at a pair of cat ears place on top of Isaac’s curly hair. “KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF ME!” Isaac yelled. All the peaceful chatter had stopped and eyes were turned toward the both of them. Isaac realizing that he was the cause of the silence looked around with his mouth open trying to spit out words as his face began to darken. Jackson gave him a smug look. Isaac glared at him.

Derek was struck by a good idea. He put on his best angry boss face. (which seemed to be his normal face recently) and stormed towards them. “You two again?! Did I think you two weren’t to talk to each other anymore? My office now!” They both stood now shocked and a little shaken that they had been caught by their boss. They stammered for a minute but Derek just pointed to the elevator.

The elevator ride was almost quiet except when Isaac had spoken up for second “I think we should go to HR. Stiles wanted us to go to him if there were any more issues.” Derek simply gave him a look that silenced Isaac with fear for the rest of the elevator ride. 

When they got to the floor of his office they all stepped out with no protest. Erica was just getting ready to go home. “Erica, could you do me a for before you go? Can you call Mr. Stilinski to come to my office?” Derek asked Erica looked at him in disbelief “Boyd’s waiting? You said I could go at one. Why can’t you call him?” Derek looked at her with wide eyes and clenched teeth. “Erica call HR then you can go.” He said motioning his head to guilty looking men standing by his office door. Erica sighed and picked up her desk phone dialing to HR. Derek walked into his office with Jackson and Isaac with a smile on his face.

They waited for a few minutes. Derek took this time to remove the slightly melted mini chocolate bars from his pocket and enjoyed of few of the gummy candy’s that he had received but he put the Reese’s pieces away for later. (They were his favorite.)

There was a nice knock on the door. Derek’s stomach did a couple of flips at the thought of seeing Stiles again. Was he in a suit or did he have a costume on? Would he be as authoritative as last time? Maybe he would stay for a little bit after! Derek had a smile on his face which quickly turned into a frown when in entered a brunette. 

She wasn’t Stiles.

“Hi, I’m Allison Argent. Mr. Hale, I’ll be your Human Resources personnel in this matter. Shall we get started?” she asked. Her hair was up in a loose and straightened. she was dressed in scrubs and a doctor’s coat as well. She turned to the men on the couch and her face immediately shifted into disbelief “you’ve got to be kidding me. Isaac, we talked about this last time.” Isaac looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. “I know but Jackson started it!” Isaac countered. Derek sunk in his seat. 

Allison was the young women that Derek made a fool of himself in front of in the elevator last month. Derek couldn’t believe his luck. He had embarrassed himself in front of literally every HR team member in one day. Derek just kept his head down as Allison continued to talk to Jackson and Isaac.

Derek had been in long business meetings in his life but this had to be the longest.

Where stiles were quick to figure out the situation and rectify it, Allison liked to be meticulous. She asked each of them their sides of the story, (Jackson made fun of Isaac’s Halloween costume) and continue to work from there. 

Derek didn’t really understand where he went wrong. He had thought this was fool proof. Stiles would have had to come down to deal with this. He dealt with them last time! 

Allison finished up with them in an hour. Derek was extremely annoyed by this entirely. If he knew this would happen he wouldn’t have tried in the first place. 

Jackson and Isaac were excused from the office being told they were lucky that it wasn’t Stiles dealing with them again. Lucky was not the word Derek would have used. Alison had stayed behind for a few minutes. She had made a spot for herself on one of Derek’s soft plush chairs in his office and was now cleaning up.

They didn’t say anything to each other, letting the silence do most of the talking. Derek was fine with that. He had made a fool of himself to many times recently and he would like to at least have some of his pride left.

“Where are stiles?” He asked anyways. He didn’t have a lot of self-control which made him want to shove his foot in his mouth. 

Alison didn’t even look at him. “Mr. Hale I’m sure at this point Erica has explained to you that Stiles is a very busy man. Much like yourself, he must run a company. A different way from you sure, but never the less he must run a company. Right now he is busy doing the yearly employee reviews. I think it would be in your best interest to simply go and talk to him when the work day is done. Instead of subjecting yourself to dealing with my boyfriend and his mortal enemy.” She replied gracefully. Derek frowned in response.

“I don’t know what you think I’m doing, but you can’t go accusing your boss!” Derek replied angrily. Allison pulled her bag off the chair hiking it up onto her shoulder with a sigh. “I’m not accusing you of anything Mr. Hale. I’m simply giving you some good advice.” She countered. She walked to the door pulling it open. Derek scoffed. “Oh, yeah? What’s that then?” he asked. Allison looked him directly in the eye.

“Just go talk to him.” 

Without anything further, she walked out closing the door behind her. Derek growled at that. “What do you mean by that!” He called after her. He once again received no answer. 

 

Derek was at a loss for what he should do. That seemed like the only way into talking to Stiles, and it backfired on him. So, he decided to call an expert on dating. His sister. She had countless knowledge on how the whole romance thing worked. If anyone could help him, it was his sister.

“Well, it sounds like you have a good in with this guy,” Laura said after Derek had explained the situation. 

Derek had never really been embarrassed to talk to Laura about his love life. They were pretty close growing up. Laura was the first one to know he was gay and he was the first one to be told that Laura was bisexual. So his life was pretty open with her from the beginning. There was some teasing from her but nothing he couldn’t deal with. They loved and understood each other.

“Yea?” Derek asked. He knew he came to the right person. “What is it?” 

Laura laughed. “It’s pretty simple actually. You work in the same building. Why don’t you just go talk to him.” Laura concluded. Derek groaned at that. “Everyone keeps saying that but what does it mean?” Derek asked. Laura Laughed again. Derek missed that laugh. “It quite literally means just go talk to him. It doesn’t mean anything differently.” Laura took a breath. “Derek you’ve always been kind of dramatic. I’m actually kind of surprised you weren’t a theater major. You always think there’s some double meaning to something but it’s really quite simple. Pick up your feet and go talk to him. Get his number. call him. Talk to him. Stop trying to bump into him and take the initiative.” Laura deadpanned. Derek sighed

“What if something goes wrong?” Derek asked. Laura smiled albeit that her brother was in emotional distress about his crush. “Derek I’m going to give you some advice that mom gave to me.” Derek sucked in a breath. It was as if someone pulled the oxygen from the room when he heard ‘mom’. Laura and he had never really talked about the family after the fire. At least not together anyways.

“…What is it?” He asked hesitantly. 

“Go talk to him. The worst thing he can say is no.” 

Derek sighed “The no is what I’m afraid of.” Laura sighed loudly. “Derek.” She said with a warning tone. Derek rubbed a hand on his shoulder lightly. “Fine! I’ll go talk to him. I don’t even know what to say, though…” he could hear Laura moving in the background. Cups clinking together. She was most likely making a cup of coffee. She was addicted to caffeine. “Just be honest. Tell him you like him and you would like to get to know him better over coffee or something. You could go simple and just ask for his number. Then you would just have to text him. It would make it less awkward in the beginning for you.” Laura suggested. She had dated far more people than Derek so of course, she had a better idea of these things worked.

“I’ll think about talking to him,” Derek replied quietly. Laura hummed in response. “as long as you think about it Der.” Laura answered

They had talked for a few more minutes until Laura had said she needed to get ready for a Halloween function she was going to. They said I love you and goodbyes and before long Derek was alone with his thoughts in his office. 

Derek sighed softly thinking about what Laura had said to him. ‘The worst thing he could say is no’ Derek scoffed. 

Saying it still seemed pretty bad.

Derek was on his way out for the day. He was going to go home shower and (try) to watch something festive for Halloween but now he was in the elevator. He paused finger over the buttons. Fingers hovering over the button that would take him to stiles floor. ‘the worst thing he can say is no’ Derek swallowed and stepped out of the elevator. Pausing for a second outside of the elevator. 

“The worst thing he can say is no,” Derek whispered to himself. 

He put his hand up to stop the elevator doors from closing and he got back in. He pressed the button before he could change his mind. The elevator traveled upward. 

He was a ball of nervous as he made his way up and out of the elevator. He was trying to talk himself out of giving up and going home like he wanted to. He walked down the deserted hallway. Willing himself to calm down as he walked into the HR office. No one was there anymore. gone home like everyone else. It was quiet except the low bass coming from stiles office. 

He walked slowly to the door and opened it. 

He immediately regretted it. 

In the office was stiles standing by his desk in just his tee shirt and underwear. He was singing along to the song that was playing from his computer. At least that’s what Derek assumed. The desk was stacked with papers and folders that it didn’t exactly look like a desk anymore. Stiles picked up his jeans from the floor and folded them quickly. Derek made an awkward sound in his throat. It didn’t exactly sound human but it got Stiles attention, though.

Stiles turned around surprised by the appearance of Derek but didn’t look uncomfortable that he was kind of naked in front of his boss. “Oh, Mr. Hale I didn’t know you were still in. Is there something I can help you with?” Derek made another sound embarrassment coloring his cheeks a dark red. HE tried to say something making a few attempts. Opening and closing his mouth. He finally said something the only thing he could think of. 

“Why are you undressing at work? This is a place of business, not a brothel!” Derek immediately regretted this as stiles face went from kind and happy to disbelieving and rivaling. Stiles pulled out a pair of pajama pants from his bag that was set on the floor. “I’m well aware of where I am and how I am dressed Mr. Hale but need I remind you that even if it is an office knocking on the door is expected of someone.” Stiles raised his eyebrows in a challenge as he raised his pajama pants to his slender hips with a small snap of the elastic waistband. Derek didn’t have a reply. He stood there with his mouth hanging open. His cheeks flushed even further. “So we’re on the same page then?” Stiles asked with a cocky smile. Derek snapped his mouth shut anger rising a bit. “Mr. Stilinski need I remind you who you’re talking to! Oh, and while we’re talking about appropriate you should wait until you’re home to dress more casual. This is a place of business.” Derek huffed glaring at stiles. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Stiles looked at Derek for all of a second before he was talking again. “The office today had people dressed as sexy anything. I think my Comic book pajama’s will not tarnish the name of Hale. Now if you wanna talk appropriate, how about interrupting my staff when I specifically said I would deal with any future situation because you wanted me to come down there.” Stiles scolded. Derek immediately looked away. He was caught.

“Yeah, you didn’t think I would know about that did you. I have a ton of work to do Mr. Hale I can’t come down there because people are being jackasses to each other. That’s why I have more staff working in HR then just me. If you wanted to talk to me then you could have just talked to me.” Stiles spoke. He walked to his desk pulling a pen and paper from the desk and wrote. “I’m not the best at…talking,” Derek replied awkwardly.

Stiles smiled.

“Well, you’re in luck because I’m good at talking.” Stiles handed Derek the piece of paper. Scrawled in a blocky text in the blue pen was stiles cell phone number (labeled as such) Derek looked at stiles then back down at the paper. 

Stiles smiled at him a little shyly “Text me sometime.” He stated it but it sounded more like a question. All Derek could do was nod a shy yes. 

Derek walked out of the building a little giddy as he called his best big sister.


End file.
